WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today released the following statement on President Trump’s actions to secure the border and enforce our immigration laws:

“Today, President Trump took action that will launch the process of securing our southern border and effectively enforcing our nation’s immigration laws. These are policies on which Americans have waited far too long for action, and I stand ready to work with my colleagues to support these measures with any additional Congressional action that may be necessary to ensure they are timely and effectively implemented.”

Sen. Cruz is the Senate sponsor of Kate’s Law, which would amend federal law to impose a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for any illegal reentry offense and is crucial to ensuing that deported illegal aliens – especially those with violent criminal records – are deterred from illegally reentering the United States. The legislation is named for Kate Steinle, a 32-year-old woman tragically shot and killed in San Francisco by an illegal alien who had several felony convictions and had been deported from the United States five times.

Sen. Cruz reintroduced Kate’s Law earlier this month – which he first introduced in the Senate in July 2015 – along with cosponsors Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), David Perdue (R-Georgia), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), and Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska).